River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-03-10
MADISON LETTER.
The Soldiers Roster-Diffculties and Curl
osities Of the Work-A Little History
Of a Soldier who Never Wore
Shoulder Straps Something
for Every Comrade TO Do.

l Soldiers has progressed the difficulty OF prcpar
/ ing from the records Of the Office, a record
which shall be even approximately complet'
and correct. has become more and more appar
emit That il might ever be made perfectly
| correct has never been claimed. To exhumt
from the mass Of papers on file in the Adjutant
| Generals Office the documents pertaining &
| each regiment; TO sort these again into compa
! MES, and again reduce the classification into
| individuals in such companies, and from this
material extract the material facts in each in
| dividual soldiers record, has been work
requiring close application, a discriminating
Judgment and often an intuition which should
even surpass the best powe rs of Judgment
The most difficult problem has been to deter
mine the correct spelling Of proper names. In
the %, 900 names with which the compilcTs have
had to do, there are less than 10000 signatures
Of the soldiers themselves file in the ONCE.
Some Of these are iHegible by the lapse OF time,
or were so badly written originally that il is
impossible TO decipher them letter by letter,
and the whole problem often hangs upon small
or n, OF an 0 or an a. the interchange of either
making an entirely different name, and throw
ing it down in the column from Raining TO Rum
ing, or from Sala 10 Solo, or sole, or Sale (and
am using only actual cases in all | may write
on this subjecD. II such changes are possible
in a name Of four letters. it is easily imagined
what difficulties may, and DO arise in the Ninth
rSenty-sixth or Thirty-sixth regiments, com
posed almost entirely of German names, with
rather more than double. barreled possibilities.
And it is not alone among the foreign names
that these difficulties arise. In the Second cav
airy there was a man named Whitaker. In max
ing up his record it was fonnd that the First
seargents or company clerks have spelled the
name seven different ways in the reports made
g. the A. &. O..-whitaker. Whitaker, WHITAKER,
Whitacre. Whiteaere, Whitaker, Whiteker, seven.
different styles of Whit. and no signature to
decide the matter. Here the Judgment of the
compiler comes in play. What is the usual
spelling. Which company clerk appears TO have
used the greatest care in making his reports
showing the least errors, and evincing the great
est intelligence? Such an one may be supposed
to have taken the greatest care 10 have every
name right, and then, coupled with the weight
given to usages the decision is given. But
IA many instances. since the first volume
was sent out. both usage and judgment have
been reversed, and the owner of the name has
written to know why We didn't spoil il right, and
As likely as not has spelled II in the fashion
which would have been given the lowest place
in the probabilities. of course this is annoying
10 both the soldier and the Aa3c.ant General.
Fame was once defined as Icing killed in battle
and having your name spelled wrong in the list
Ofthe dead. II is srecies Of fame which has
come TO many gallant soldier, living and dead
Buttherc is an opportunity offered to all 10 con-
suit the first yolum' Of the Wisconsin Roster. at
the nearest Grand Army Post, high school IL
brary, or Circuit Court clerks Office and if your
own, or your comrades name is found mis-
spelled write the Adjutant General al once,
giving company and regiment, and the correct
ion viii be made in time for the second edition.
Every soldier and officer ought TO read the pre-
face 70 volume one, and at once lend his aid in
verifying and correcting the work.
Every old soldier viii remember the rOll-call
Of his company. sometimes-most always so il
was annoying. 1t broke into his nap or dis
turbed the continuity Of great game Of "old
sledge," or, as was sometimes the case II deyel-
oped the fact that Smith, John wasn't present,
and set on foot inquiries which eliminated in
a nights repose in the guard-house, and an ex-
ira turn at fatigue duty the next day. Bu'
every soldier, without any exception, took great
pride in the fact that their orderly as the LIST
sergeant was called, could and did call the roll
without his book, and kept record Of absent
ees in his head Those were great heads. that
those s'orderlies' had, and our pride was justin
able, especially if he accidentally skipped a
name the owner Of which he might have every
reason 10 believe was miles away outside of
camp on private foraging expedition, ia the
fruits of which the orderly" had a lively in
terest. My owl recollection is 0fhearing Jim
Van Meter, as he faced his struggling line Of
sleepy and ll-kempt babes at the last tap OF
the last call in the morning, commence with
ABB. zimmerman, Andrews, Bishop. Briggs,
Brown, Buckerheat, Burnett, Z. Burnett J.
Bushnell, and so on to- the end Of a hundred
names without stoppin to put in so much as
comma betN cen. and never missing man I'M
less the circ umstances required it. In making
up the roster. however. my faith in the ability
| ofevery orderly to call his roll from his head
has been shaken Some of the 9th regiment
| companies are made up of German names that
would stagger even a native born "Dutchman
| but even these are thrown completely into the
| background by Co. * Of the 37th Infantry-the
regiment with which Major Burnett trained
| during the last years OF the war Imagine al
orderly beginning the day in front of Peters
| burg with a memorized rOll-cal commencing
with Ah-pa- ho-ke, h-she-tah- yash, Hah- pa to-
kasic, Hah -pah-tak-wah- no-quette, HAWAII tab
wax a-o, Ken-nein-ne-ka-sic, Mac-o-pah tab
Nah kah- wit, Nah pah- nsh-co-chen, Nah
| sha-ksh- ap-pah, 0h-a-wah-no- melton, Pah-ye
4 Wah sit Pe-quah-nah- rein, Sha boi-sha -ka. Sr
sha- boi-sha- ka, Jr., Shaw-wah- ne-pe-nass Wah
sha-we-quon, wah-sha- kah -sa- ne-siek---Rober
for that is his if he still lives 1t is doubt
fulifthe orderly does live If the rebs didn't xii
him in the hell-hole oft the crater, into which b,
led his troop Of aborgines. the roll-calI ofeght!
n
names. four times day, would certainly have
worn him out before the regiment was disband
ed. The Major will probably enlighten every
body, on this point, who has the curiosity t
learn the fate Of so talented a sergeant as he
must have been if he memorized his roll.
January Blackbird served faithfully in one o
the batteries and Frank Tobacco marched witt
the 10th infantry. There are hundreds Of Thames
curious. comieal, or quaint, in the various regi
nents. and an hour might be pleasantly whileC
away by one having no interest in the men, th'
army or the cause for which they fought, il
collecting these patronymics. But the grea
interest viii center about the names, homeil
or common though they be, Of those who wen
ont at the call Of their country, and marched
and fought and often died. who are here en-
rolled aud the brief summary Of their services
tween is reviewed in the memory of the her
whose story is thus briefly told Enlisted a
Prescott, May 10 1851 Vet. Corp, Sergt., Isl
sergt, wnd Antietam. WIND. Wilderness; NJ. G
July "a, 1865" That is the record Of "cub
engineer Of the steamer Fannie Harris, at WHOM
the boys laughed when he said he was going I
enlist. They said he wouldn't fight. tn
record is brief, but reading between the line
l -. s. .t,s
which raised a man from private to the ran
Of corporal. Not a great raise in the army fror
private to sth corporsl-but a rise and after
lion to duty and courage in action brought
: | further promotion, and another stripe was adde
! to the chevron and with the first sergeantcy can
: very much responsibility, for the orderly is II
head ofthe house" with the boys" And III
record Of wounds shows that the little Germa
did not stay in the rear whenit became hot
the front. The period covers more than fot
wears Of service, in all kinds of weather and j